Balanceophile

It’s been a few days since the beginning of the new year and I felt that it is time I write about this to be relevant and relatable. Most of you might have a New Year’s Resolution and are engaged in working on it breaking through all possible obstacles. First of all, my best wishes and hope you achieve your goal.

Here comes the most crucial aspect of your efforts: Consistency. This blog is all about trying to show you the path of consistency that leads to nothing less than greatness.

Before I start, let me address the elephant in the room – At this point, there might be a few people who are on the verge of giving up on your resolutions. And 99% of the reason is not being consistent. The accountability is lost somewhere due to a lack of consistency.

The power of consistency is that it helps your brain to comprehend the tasks that you do constantly as something natural like eating or sleeping. Your mind slowly starts to consider these habits as default tasks that you would do like a routine.

The power of consistency is that it brings out the hidden power in you.

How to be consistent?

Now to the million-dollar question. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is no shortcut to being consistent. It’s all you! You must push yourself amidst all the hurdles and show up for it. We humans are social creatures and our inhibitions take us a step away from being consistent. However, a few strategies might help put you on the path of consistency (remember, it’s still you who has to walk on the path). The major fuel of consistency is the intent or purpose behind your task.

You must know the ‘why’ or be keen to explore the ‘real why’ to step ahead in the trail of consistency.

Prioritize the thing that you want to be consistent with.

Start slow and progress at a natural pace. By starting slow, you give your body and mind the time to analyze the changes happening with your new lifestyle and adapt to it. To all the cricket fans –

It’s like a test match, not an ODI.

Remember, one day at a time. We both know we cannot become experts in one day, right? But with consistency, we could be some day and that day will only get closer to you when you are working towards it persistently.

What worked for me?

Here’s something that worked for me with my reading habits.

Step 1: I picked a time of the day and the duration for reading and that is about 20-30 minutes before bedtime.

Step 2: In the initial few days, no matter where I went or what I did, 20 minutes before my bedtime, I ensured to read a few pages of my book.

Step 3: After a few days of staying stubborn and showing up daily, I noticed a change in my mindset. Whenever I missed reading, I could feel a bit of an emptiness in me which used to disappear when I picked a book.

The final step: That’s when I realized the power of consistency.

It morphs your thoughts into liking what you do, making it a beautiful routine.

Now, reading a book is no more a chore for me, it’s a habit that I created for myself and I love doing it. Since then, I have applied the same logic for every other habit that I wanted for myself and it has been a successful journey so far.

Why do people fail at being consistent?

According to my observations, one of the major reasons to fail at being consistent is the desire for instant gratification. We humans need results in 10 days, a month tops, be it losing fat, learning a new skill, etc. This is the reason why intent is important and if you have a short-visioned intent, you are most likely to fail at being consistent.

Take the most common scenario – people paying upfront for a year at the gym on Jan 1st. The maximum time most people follow this routine is maybe for a month or two. That’s when they reach the ‘plateau’ stage and may not witness any visual results. However, only a handful realize that it’s a phase and now begins the actual challenge.

For most of these processes, people go all in on the first day and eventually get tired or don’t share the same excitement as the first day.

The key is to plan, have patience, be goal-oriented, and constantly remember why you chose to have a new habit in the first place.

The only solution that can help you stay consistent is to have a far-visioned intent and a stubborn attitude to show up every day. Make a plan, stick to it.

Conclusion

Consistency, in other words, could be called ‘Manifesting Habits’. In your quest to achieve something magnificent, being consistent is your only path, not motivation, not inspiration. Sure, these two will act as a catalyst, but only when you are on the path of consistency. So, this new year, whatever is your resolution, ensure to progress slowly and steadily and remember to stay.